Fog of War?

[JohnnFour]

I have access to a projector in our gaming area now. I'm looking for software that would let me scan in a map, throw on fog of war, and then expose the map in real time in front of the players.

It's been awhile since I investigated mapping apps, but it seemed like you always needed two monitors, or client/server setups. I have one projector, one box that I can't install software on, 1 USB key I can install software on, and no Internet.

Is there software that I can install on a USB key that would let me setup the map in advance and then explore it in player mode or something so I can reveal the map while we all watch?

 

[azhrei_fje]

Try out MapTool from RPTools.net. It's free forever, cross-platform (written in Java), and has FOW that can be "painted" away (you select a region and the fog is removed).

I'm not sure you can remove FOW while in "View as Player" mode, but you probably can. The big issue will be clearing stuff away when you can't see it yourself!

I would suggest that you create the tokens that represent the PCs (and NPCs), and then give the PC tokens a light source. If you also define the solid walls and doors (using the "Topology tools" or "light blocking layer") then the FOW will automatically clear as the tokens move around on the map. This works very well in a setup where each player has a laptop (or maybe shares a laptop with another player) but I'm not sure how well it would work with just a single display.

But why do you think you have a single display? Most operating systems will let you display separate windows on the "built-in" video and "external" video. So you could have a "GM" view of MapTool on the laptop screen and then a "player" view on the projector. In this case, the result would be perfect.

And don't forget to check out the forums over there at RPTools.net. You especially should search for Brad's tutorials on how to use MapTool. He put together some screencasts that show it in operation. If nothing else, you'll get an idea of what it's capable of...

 

[heruca]

If you can get the projector to act as a 2nd independent display, rather than just mirroring what's on the computer's monitor (as azhrei_fje suggested), you may also want to take a look at Battlegrounds: RPG Edition (see my sig for the link, there's a free demo you can download to try out).

My concern is with the USB key you plan on using. I have to wonder if it's speedy enough to handle loading very large maps (say, 4000 x 4000 pixels). An external portable USB 2.0 drive will probably give you much faster performance, if you've got one.

 

[babomb]

You can also use an image editor that supports layers, such as Photoshop or GIMP. Create a fog layer and fill it with a solid color (or a fog texture if you like). Place it on top of all of the other layers. Then simply use the eraser tool to erase away the fog layer.

You can download a version of GIMP designed to run off a USB key here.

 

[azhrei_fje]

Using a paint program that supports layers is a good alternative, as GIMP is free software. I mentioned MapTool because it has built-in vision/light support and can constrain token movement to a square or hex grid, if desired. I consider those big pluses.

YMMV.

 

[JohnnFour]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check each out.